


Survival

by GemmaRose



Category: One Piece
Genre: Blood, Character Death, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 14:56:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6709492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Why was Zoro wandering the island challenging dojos as such a young child? No One Piece backstory is complete without tragedy.</p><p>Will make more sense if you read <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/6687781">Inherited Will</a> first.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Survival

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Inherited Will](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6687781) by [evilisdaily](https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilisdaily/pseuds/evilisdaily). 



Zoro woke with a start, breath catching in his throat. He was almost seven, a big kid now, but Mom had insisted that he sleep between her and Dad tonight, so she could check that his fever wouldn’t return. The bed was empty, though, and there were loud noises coming from the front room.

“You won’t have her!” Dad yelled, and Zoro scrambled out of bed. There was no space to hide underneath, not like in his own room, but he ran to the closet and pulled the slatted door shut. Mom and Dad would take care of the monster outside, and then everything would be okay.

The door flew open, and Zoro almost cried out when his mom flew into the room, her eyes snapping to the empty bed before she spun around. Dad followed after, and Zoro clapped his hands over his mouth. A single blade, shining bright silvery white where it wasn’t red, protruded from his father’s chest. Mom shouted a string of bad words, but Zoro couldn’t focus on that. His eyes were caught on his dad. He wanted to scream, to sob, but instead he was frozen as Dad twisted to grab the hilt of the sword sticking into his back with one hand, the other tearing the monster’s face off.

No, not its face, its mask. The monster was a man, his short hair a stunning blond in the lamplight from the other room. Zoro had seen a few people with blonde hair, but none of them had such striking eyebrows. The monster, for he surely was a monster, not even flinching as he pulled the sword free of Dad, had eyebrows which ended in curled triangles at the ends, one curling by his ear and the other by his nose. Dad hit the floor with a thud, and Zoro felt himself began to shake as Mom launched herself at the blond monster with a screaming sob.

This was a bad dream. It had to be a bad dream. He’d wake up and Mom would be checking his temperature. Tears streamed down his cheeks even as Mom’s first punch threw the monster into the wall next to the door. The monster with the pointy swirly eyebrows was going to kill Mom, and then he’d open the door and-

Mom was screaming, cursing the monster called Vinsmoke with bad grown-up words he wasn’t allowed to say, and even as Zoro shuddered with silent sobs he couldn’t tear his eyes from the fight. Mom’s arms were bloody from the monster’s sword, but every time she was knocked down she got back up, breaking the monster’s nose and even removing him of a few teeth. But then she fell, and her arms gave out as she tried to get back up. Zoro couldn’t keep the quiet, wordless cry from his lips as the monster dropped one knee on Mom’s chest, and pulled a small knife from his belt.

She turned to him, her green hair dark with blood where locks of it stuck to her face, and Zoro found himself paralyzed again as she mouthed “I love you.”

The monster’s knife dove into her chest, and Zoro curled in on himself as he sobbed, the sound of his own ragged breaths far too quiet to cover up the sound of his mom being carved open. He was next. First Dad, then Mom, and now the monster only had him left to kill. He wasn’t strong, not like Mom. He couldn’t fight a monster like this man with the strange eyebrows and bright blond hair. He was too little!

The closet door opened, and Zoro’s head whipped up. The monster had found him. The monster had found him and that bloody sword with the silver-white blade was dripping on the floor and that was Dad’s blood, that was Mom’s blood. “I wanna wake up.” he whimpered, and ducked his head against his knees as a sob tore out of his throat. “I wanna wake up.”

There was a soft sound, a rustle of fabric, and then the monster spoke. “I won’t hurt you.” he said softly, and a hand rested gently on either side of Zoro’s head. “I’m sorry, little one. I would have left you your father, if he’d just let me do my job.”

Zoro lifted his head, his dark eyes meeting brilliant blue, but when his gaze flicked towards the door he saw only the monster’s blood-smeared palm. Another sob hitched out of his throat, and the monster brushed a hand over his eyes, pushing them shut. “You shouldn’t have had to see this.” he sounded like he was telling the truth, and Zoro ducked his head to his knees again.

“I wanna wake up.” he said thickly. Maybe if he wanted it hard enough, it would happen.

“Hold still.” the monster said, and Zoro froze again as he was scooped up against a chest much harder and narrower than Dad’s. “You’re no bigger than my second brother.” the monster said lightly, and Zoro sniffled. “My name is Vinsmoke Ichiji. What is yours, little grass-head?” his tone turned gentle and teasing at the end, and Zoro pushed away from him.

He managed to land mostly on his feet, though he fell on his butt right after. The monster, Vinsmoke Ichiji, had brought him into the kitchen and was making a small pile of things on the counter. He didn’t seem concerned in the slightest, but as his sobs began to slow Zoro got back to his feet. “Roronoa Zoro.” he said after a long minute of silence.

Vinsmoke Ichiji grabbed a large dishcloth, and moved the pile of foodstuffs onto it. “Well then, Roronoa Zoro.” he tied the cloth shut, and started for the front door. “It is likely you bear the gift of your mother’s line.”

Zoro followed the blond outside numbly, sliding his shoes on more out of reflex than anything else. “What gift?” he asked as the monster man picked up a stick and slid it under the knotted fabric, making the little bundle into a hanging thing on a stick. The stick was then pressed into his hands, and tilted until it rested on his shoulder.

“You will survive this.”

Something in Vinsmoke Ichiji’s words rang true, resonating in his chest like the deep sound of drums, and he nodded once. The monster was letting him go. He started walking when he was pushed gently towards the forest, and didn’t stop until the sun began to rise.


End file.
